`Goldfinger` is a vigorous, strong growing Poinsettia of medium to tall height and large, bright red flower bracts. It has self-branching traits which make it desirable for branched plant production. `Goldfinger` blooms relatively early and the blooming time is very uniform among individual clones. The bracts develop in a horizontal plane and do not hang downwards after sleeving and shipping. The cyathia do not prematurely abscise.
This new Poinsettia cultivar originated as a seedling from cross pollination of `15-84` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 7,310) and `Angelika` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,492) in our greenhouses in Aalsmeer, Holland. It most closely resembles the cultivar `Angelika` of U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,492 but distinctly differs in the following traits. `Goldfinger` grows taller and is more vigorouos than `Angelika`. The number of uniformly colored bracts are fewer than `Angelika`. The bract surface is relatively smoother than `Angelika`. There is red coloration of the nectar cup on `Goldfinger` but not on the nectar cup of `Angelika`. `Goldfinger` blooms 3-4 days earlier than `Angelika` and the cyathia persist longer.
After selection, vegetative reproduction of this plant was accomplished by stem cuttings for further testing purposes. Clones were subjected to successive generations of vegetative propagation which demonstrated that bract coloration and other distinctive characteristics held true from generation to generation.